Theodore of Mopsuestia

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Theodor von Mopsuestia (also: Theodorus Mopsuestenus) (* probably 350 in Antioch on the Orontes ; † 428/429 in Mopsuestia ) was a Christian theologian of the Antiochian school and bishop of the city of Mopsuestia (today Yakapınar near Adana ) in Cilicia . In the Assyrian Church of the East he is venerated as a saint .

Life

Theodore of Mopsuestia was the child of wealthy Christian parents; his brother Polychronius later became Metropolitan of Apamea . Theodor studied the classics with Maximus , who later became Bishop of Silifke Seleukia in Isauria , and Johannes Chrysostomos with Libanios . Then, under the influence of Basil of Caesarea, along with Chrysostom and Maximus, he turned to asceticism , which, however, he gave up in favor of a certain Hermione. Their engagement was the occasion of two fiery letters from John Chrysostom, who railed against such worldly temptations. After Theodore returned to the monastery, he became a student of Diodorus of Tarsus . Theodore was ordained a priest between 383 and 386 in the diocese of Antioch by Bishop Flavianus of Antioch and is assigned to the school of Antioch , where he was later given the honorary title Magister Orientis . In 392 he succeeded Olympius as bishop of Mopsuestia.

Theodore was the most famous interpreter of the Bible of his time, according to the statements of John of Antioch he interpreted the holy scriptures in all churches of the east. After the leaders of the Pelagians were driven from the western part of the empire in 418, they went to see the leaders of the School of Antioch. Presumably they also stayed with Theodor until their leader Julianus von Eclanum left for Italy in 422. According to Evagrius Scholasticus , Nestor visited Mopsuestia on his way from Antioch to Constantinople in 428 and was infected there with heretical thoughts. Marius Mercator (* around 390; † after 451) identified Theodor in 431 as the "true father" of pelagic heresy.

Theodore died in 428 as a respected Doctor of the Church, his successor as Bishop of Mopsuestia was Meletius . As an alleged supporter of Pelagianism and Nestorianism , he was condemned as a heretic a century later at the Second Council of Constantinople .

Doxology

Theodore was especially famous for his biblical commentaries, which earned him the nickname “the translator” ( Antonomasia ) in the Persian church . Above all, he emphasized the human nature of Christ , to which all believers could approach, which contributed to his later condemnation as a Nestorian. Theodore emphasized free will, taught that the Creator allowed evil so that it could become a source of good and denied the eternity of hellfire . Together with Gregorius, Basilios and Diodorus of Tarsus he is classified among the universalists .

Theodore believed in the earthly existence of paradise and the tree of knowledge ( in Genesim II, 8 ).

Fonts

Only a few of his numerous writings have come to us, and some of them in compilations by his opponents, whose reliability is strongly doubted. A catalog of the writings can be found in Seert's chronicle . Only the following are fully preserved:

  • a commentary on the 12 minor prophets,
  • the commentary on Paul's letters, in Latin translation, Letter to the Galatians , Cambridge 1880–1882,
  • Catechetical homilies (in Syrian translation), first published in 1932/33,
  • Dispute with the Macedonians.

The following writings are considered lost:

  • Book of pearls,
  • Treatise on Persian Magic ,
  • Against the defenders of original sin .

Theodore's writings, especially his biblical commentaries , had a high priority in the “Church of the East”. They were translated into Aramaic in Edessa and were later canonical in the Persian school of Nisibis .

student

Among his students was the Patriarch Mar Aba I (540–552), who also taught at the school of Nisibis . He is said to have translated a Eucharistic prayer from Theodor into Syriac. The "Anaphora of Theodor of Mopsuestia" used in the Eastern Syrian rite ( called "Second Anaphora" by the Chaldean Catholics ) is an original Syriac composition and therefore wrongly bears the name of the author and translator.

Reception history

After Bishop Nestor , who rejected the title of Mary as the Theotokos , was condemned as a heretic at the Council of Ephesus in 431 , Theodor's writings were also critically examined. Cyril of Alexandria in particular attacked him sharply in his work Contra Diodorum et Theodorum . In 435 Hesychius of Jerusalem attacked him in his church history, Rabbulas of Edessa also called him a heretic.

But between the Council of Chalcedon in 451 and the Second Council of Constantinople in 553 the authority of Theodor was altogether unchallenged. In 544, Theodorus, along with Theodoret of Kyrrhos and Ibas (Ihiba) of Edessa, was accused of Nestorianism by Emperor Justinian , an accusation which was confirmed at the fifth ecumenical council in 553 by Pope Vigilius . From then on, Theodor was considered the father of Nestorianism. Theodore is also considered a heretic by the Coptic Church , which to this day maintains a particularly intense anti-Estorian attitude.

In the Persian Church, Theodor's writings were condemned at the Synod of Nisibis in 484, which was later invalidated, by Barsauma , the school's founder. This condemnation was confirmed in 605 at a canonical synod under threat of anathema . However, the Persian Church later sharply denied this charge. The Assyrian Church still uses a liturgy form in the Eucharist today under the name of Theodore of Mopsuestia.

After the rediscovery of the Aramaic texts, Catholic theologians disputed whether his condemnation as a Nestorian was justified.

literature

  • Peter Bruns: Theodor von Mopsuestia (approx. 350-428) , in Theologische Realenzyklopädie , Volume 33, De Gruyter 2002, pp. 240-246
  • Simon Gerber: Theodor of Mopsuestia and the Nicanum: Studies on the catechetical homilies . Suffering u. a. 2000.
  • Eduard Sachau: Theodor of Mopsuestia. Fragmenta Syriaca . Leipzig 1869.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alessandro Scafi, Mapping Paradise, A history of Heaven on earth (London, British Library 2006), 44
  2. ↑ HN Sprenger (ed.), Theodori Mopsuesteni Commentarius in XII Prophetas. Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz 1977.
  3. ↑ See Pierre Yousif: The Anaphora of Mar Theodore: East Syrian; Further Evidences . In: Eὐλόγημα, Studies in Honor of Robert F. Taft SJ. A cura di E. Carr [et al.] (Studia Anselmiana 110 = Analecta liturgica 17), Benedictina - Ed. Abbazia S. Paolo, Roma 1993, 571-591.
personal data
SURNAME Mopsuestia, Theodor von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mopsuestenus, Theodorus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Christian theologian of the Antiochene school
DATE OF BIRTH at 350
PLACE OF BIRTH Antioch on the Orontes
DATE OF DEATH 428 or 429
Place of death Mopsuestia